Help! my car A/C / Heater smells like cat whiz =(

[brimic]

'14 subaru legacy.
When I turn the fan on it smells like a herd of cats pissing in my car. Had a coworker look at it and he described it more as a 'urine soaked dirty sweat sock smell.'
Checked the air intake- looked clean, no smell coming from it.
Saw some internetz posts about A/C water condensing and going stagnant in the system.
Anyone have experience with this sort of thing or how to get rid of it?

[cordex]

Remove the litter box from beneath your vent.

Problem solved.

[Brad Johnson]

Cat peeing on the windshield and dripping into the cowl vent?

Brad

[AJ Dual]

You'd have to look at an exploded parts diagram and see if there's any low spots where moisture could collect.

And is it honest-to-god ammonia you're smelling, or an "ammonia-ish musty/wet smell" that's just really unpleasant?

[Fitz]

'14 subaru legacy.
When I turn the fan on it smells like a herd of cats pissing in my car. Had a coworker look at it and he described it more as a 'urine soaked dirty sweat sock smell.'
Checked the air intake- looked clean, no smell coming from it.
Saw some internetz posts about A/C water condensing and going stagnant in the system.
Anyone have experience with this sort of thing or how to get rid of it?

2014?

Take that *expletive deleted*it to the dealer and make them fix it. No reason water should be going nasty in a car that new

[makattak]

<Eagerly clicks the thread to make a smart alec remark>
<Sees his job is already taken care of>

Otherwise, I'm with Fitz. 2014 means it's the dealer's job to find out.

[41magsnub]

<Eagerly clicks the thread to make a smart alec remark>
<Sees his job is already taken care of>

Otherwise, I'm with Fitz. 2014 means it's the dealer's job to find out.

Yup.

My 2013 outback goes in this week because the engine is idling rough.  I'm not troubleshooting it, this is the dealer's problem for another 8K miles or so.

[KD5NRH]

And is it honest-to-god ammonia you're smelling, or an "ammonia-ish musty/wet smell" that's just really unpleasant?

Quickest way to find out is to mist some bleach into the intake and see what happens.

[Brad Johnson]

Quickest way to find out is to mist some bleach into the intake and see what happens.

You are an evil person. You know that, right...? 

Brad

[brimic]

Lol.

[BlueStarLizzard]

stop making the cats hate you.

[vaskidmark]

Two choices:

1 - take off the air vent grills and stik a shopvac hose down there and suck out whatever is there to be sucked out.  (Probably a good idea to do this outdoors at least two counties away from your house.)

2 - let the dealership dismantle your dash and air systems to find the body(s) and remove them, then squirt Car-B-Fresh all over the place.  (If selecting this option, be sure to insist on being given all the parts they replaced, including the body(s) they sucked out.)

stay safe.

[Scout26]

Ex-wife?

[brimic]

Ex-wife?

You're not the first to ask that one

[BobR]

Is it cat piss or vinegar (acetic) smell?

Whatever, it is probably moisture (mold) in the vents. With newer cars the AC runs nearly all the time and when you turn the car off, moisture is still in the vents.

A couple of ways to combat this with the easiest being to run the heater on high a few minutes when you park the car for the night. Another method is to make the dealer try to find the puddle of bacteria, fix it and then use an ozone generator to remove the odor from the car. That is usually a full day experience.

Or a rat crawled into the vents and is slowly decomposing. 

bob

[Scout26]

Is your car garage kept at your home?

Is your car in a lot at work, where someone could dump cat whizz in your intake vent?

Or do cats, feral and otherwise, hang out near your house and have decided that your hood makes a great litter box.


Do take it to the dealer and let them determine the source (mildew or cat whizz) and treat accordingly.


My bet is enemy action.

[p12]

Pretty common in high humid areas. Even dry areas during extended periods of high humidity. HVAC case stays moist with pollens and dust causing bacteria to grow when the case heats up. Later GM vehicles have a fan after run function that can be turned on by the dealer. This helps dry out the housing by cycling the fan on when the key is off for several minutes. You might ask the dealer if this is an option. Or search Google. The dealer customer contact personel may not be aware of it. I know techs that were not aware of this.

The other option is to get a shop to do a BG foaming flush of the evap housing. It works quite well. Will stop the smell but it will come back next summer.

[Jim147]

Have you changed the cabin air filter?

Stop peeing on the windshield to clean it off.

jim

[tokugawa]

Take a quick look at the cylinder heads and engine compartment to see if there are a lot of seed hulls or etc- there may be mice living on them-

 and make sure your dealer checks for leaks in the heating system- degraded antifreeze can smell terrible- also applies to windshield washer fluid

[KD5NRH]

In order to properly diagnose the issue, we need to know exactly what kind of cat.  Check with pet stores for different domestic breeds, and the zoo to get some comparison samples of various larger cat urine.

[brimic]

Take a quick look at the cylinder heads and engine compartment to see if there are a lot of seed hulls or etc- there may be mice living on them-

 and make sure your dealer checks for leaks in the heating system- degraded antifreeze can smell terrible- also applies to windshield washer fluid

I took a look yesterday- the engine looks shiny and clean, no drips, debris, or even dust on it yet.

[vaskidmark]

I took a look yesterday- the engine looks shiny and clean, no drips, debris, or even dust on it yet.

It's not what's on the engine - it's what has gotten into your tubing.

Snake some sort of swab down the tubes, bring it up, taste test it and let us know.

stay safe.

[Brad Johnson]

Get a blacklight and shine it into the cowl vent (has to be dark, of course). If you see runs, drips, or errors that fluoresce then you likely have a case of windshield cat wash-itis.  It's the devil to eliminate but some well-drooled Nature's Miracle enzymatic neutralizer can work wonders.  If that doesn't completely eliminate the smell then your only option is removal and teardown of the A/C box for a thorough scrub and enzyme treatment.  If it's cat urine and it's gotten into any fabric, padding, or insulation, you'll likely get a reminder whiff on warm days unless the infused material is replaced.

Brad

[KD5NRH]

If it's cat urine and it's gotten into any fabric, padding, or insulation, you'll likely get a reminder whiff on hot days unless the infused material is completely replaced.

Eat lots of red meat and pee in the vents yourself until it covers up the cat scent.

[280plus]

Mice or squirrels. Look for the previously mentioned seed hulls or a nest somewhere. Maybe a dead mouse in there? Not sure how to deal with the smell. I usually out a box of decon under the hood in the fall which is when they start looking for shelter from the impending cold.